Megaman X - Tales of the Wreckers
by SdazVarence
Summary: When a massive maverick outbreak hits the crime ridden streets of Aria City, supreme commander Signas reactivates the 21st Combat Rapid Response Platoon to go in and take out every last Maverick. They are the first ones in, the last ones out, and always get the job done, regardless of the resulting property damage, as such, they are also known by a different name: The Wreckers.
1. Chapter 1 - Reactivation

The year is 22XX...

After the Jacobs Elevator incident, Maverick activity has been on a steady decline. Sigma had been destroyed, possibly for good, his broken body left to decay on the moon. Recent advances in technology have begun to slowly render the Maverick Virus inert, though no one knows for sure if it can ever be eliminated. However, with Sigma dead, it has become easier to keep the Maverick virus under control.

This does not mean that Mavericks are no longer a threat, despite the decline in maverick activity, mavericks continue to pose a threat to humans, whether it be from a virus, or of their own volition, but these days, mavericks aren't the only threat. Once upon a time, humans were just as dangerous, perhaps even more so. Gangs, crime syndicates, mafia, before the advent of robots and later reploids, the most dangerous criminals were humans themselves, and even to this day, humans are more than capable of making mavericks look benign.

Maverick Hunter main Head Quarters, located in Neo Metro City on the east coast.

Signas, supreme commander of the Maverick Hunters relaxed and sat back in his chair, enjoying the peace and quiet for a change. There haven't been any major outbreaks, and the city itself is relatively calm, at the same time however he is currently missing three of his top hunters, as X and Zero had been sent to the Far East HQ to help Colonel Redips with the recent uprising over in Giga City, and Axl had taken a leave of absence, the incident at Jacobs had shaken him considerably, after the revelations regarding the new generation reploids, who could honestly blame him?

Signas sat back in his chair, rubbing his eyes for a moment, and yawning briefly. Perhaps it would be best to turn in early? 'The city has been relatively peaceful, nothing serious has happened that the regular patrols can't handle.' He stopped in his thoughts, thinking for a moment. 'Well there was that incident in the Bay Area involving the Striders, local police and way too much jurisdiction pissing contests.' he sighed. 'Makes me glad I'm a Maverick Hunter, so much more simpler.' Signas smiled for a moment. 'You know what, I think I'll do just that. I'll get a drink over at Riley's, then head home and get some much needed slee-" he was cut off by his intercom ringing, followed by the voice of his secretary coming through it.

"Commander Signas, you have a call coming in, long distance."

'Long distance?' Signas thought to himself. Couldn't be Redips, he operates independently of the main HQ. "Whoever it is, tell them I left for the day." he said as he approached his door.

"It's Mayor Grange, sir." said the receptionist.

Signas stopped. Did he hear that right. "I'm sorry Fiona, did you say Mayor Grange? As in HAMILTON Grange, of Aria City?"  
"Pretty sure." said Fiona over the call, with a bit of snark to her voice. "Do you know of any other Hamilton Granges?"

Signas knew he was going to regret it, but part of him was curious as to why Grange of all people would be calling here. The more rational side of him was saying not to take the call, nothing good could come of it, and besides the Maverick Hunters have no jurisdiction in Aria City what so ever, and for the most part, most sane Maverick Hunters wouldn't touch that play with a 50 foot pole anyways.

"Patch him through." Signas said, Curiosity winning out over reason as he returned to his desk and sat down, the view screen of his Com Phone turning on, revealing the face of a human in his late 50's early 60s with steel grey hair and a clean shaven face, he had brown eyes and a sharp, expensively tailored suit that Signas was sure came at the expense of the citizens, probably also the amount of food he eats to look the way he did, despite being a man of above average height he was fairly hefty for his eyes. An equally expensive looking handkerchief was used to wipe sweat from his brow as he seem to glare at Signas.

"Commander Signas? This is Mayor Hamilton Grange of Aria City. I have been trying to get in touch with you for nearly a week now with no luck until now!"

'Thats because I had Fiona screen my calls.' Signas thought, wondering to himself why exactly she let this one go through. He cleared his throat and put on his best friendly appearance. "Mayor Grange, what an unexpected surprise. I was under the impression the Maverick Hunters were not needed in Aria City."

"This isn't the time for making jokes Signas!" said Grange. "I need you to send me X and Zero! My city is crawling with Mavericks and lives are in danger!"

'Translation: re-election campaign is in jeopardy if all the voters are dead.' Signas thought to himself, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Out of everyone to call him on this quiet day, it had to be this man. Hamilton Grange, mayor of the one hell hole of a city that the Maverick Hunters can't touch. Again, Signas put on his best smile. "Mayor Grange, I regret to inform you that X and Zero are out of the country on assignment and thus we cannot spare them at the moment. And even then the Maverick Hunters have no jurisdiction to operate in Aria City under any circumstance, besides do you not have your own Maverick Hunting task force within your police department? I am sure they are more than capable of handling whatever problems are threatening your fair city." 'and you re-election.' Signas thought to himself.

"They are ill equip to handle this!" said Grange.

Signas blinked. " 'Ill equipped?' What do you mean 'Ill equipped'? Mayor Grange I thought your police force was capable of handling mavericks on a daily basis, which is one of the reasons Aria City does not allow regular Maverick Hunters into the city." 'and also everyone is corrupt as hell and we'd risk exposing everyone.' Signas thought to himself.

"You don't understand Signas!" said Grange. "This isn't some corner store robbery! This is a full on INVASION! Hundreds, THOUSANDS of mavericks have been showing up in my city over the past WEEK and the chaos is escalating."

"And you didn't think to contact us sooner?" Signas asked. "Or did the people lining your pockets not agree to such an idea?"

"I TRIED!" growled Grange, looking very angry at Signas's comment. "But apparently you were busy."

"I'll be honest with you Hamilton." said Signas. "I have every right to turn down a request like this. Your city reeks of corruption that makes me sick just thinking about it, and the Maverick Hunters aren't even allowed jurisdiction within your city, which I can come up with more than a few reasons why. So give me a good reason, why in the hell would I risk my two best hunters, or ANY of my hunters for that matter, to clean up your mess? Because that's what I'm hearing out of you, an easy way to clean up a problem that you can't make disappear."

"What do you want?" Hamilton asked. "I'll give you anything, just send me hunters that can deal with these Mavericks."

"You know what I want." said Signas. "Full jurisdiction for the duration of the assignment. However long it takes for whoever I send to deal with your maverick problems, THEY are in charge, not you or anyone else you got that?"

"Fine! Just send SOMEONE!" said Grange.

"Don't worry." said Signas, smiling rather dryly. "I know just who to send, good day Mayor, and sit tight." With that he'd cut the call before Grange could protest any more.

Signas sat back and sighed, if Dr. Cain was still alive he'd kill him for accepting this assignment, hell SIGMA would kill him for accepting this assignment. Ah well, no use complaining right? He looked off to his left, taking notice of a picture he kept on a small shelf. He walked over, picked it up and looked at it. It was taken prior to the Eurasia incident, to commemorate his appointment as Commander of the Maverick Hunters. In the picture was himself, along with X and Zero, Alia, Lifesaver and Douglas.

However, there was a 7th figure in the picture, a reploid of average height and build, with white armor over a grey body suit. He was tanned with short black hair and a mustache and no helmet, and had a stoic expression on his face. The shoulders of his armor were squared off and the waist of his armor had a utility belt with various pouches on it. A small smile crossed his face as he examined the picture.

'I can think of no one better to send into that hell hole.' Signas thought. 'If anyone can do it he can. The question is, will he accept?' he set the picture back on the shelf and headed for his door, leaving his office and passing by his secretary's desk. Fiona was non combat hunter who handled paper work, and had predominately purple armor as she looked up from some files, she had a youthful appearance but her personality was anything but. "Going out sir?" she asked.

"Yes I am." said Signas. "If Grange calls again, tell him I'm out."

Fiona smiled. "Of course sir."

"Also get in touch with West Coast HQ in Portland, have them look into the recent maverick activity occurring in Aria City, I want to know if this so called 'invasion' of mavericks is real or not."

"Right away sir." said Fiona.

Neo Metro City, Westside.

The reploid who answered the door looked different from the one in the picture. At the moment he was currently in Civilian attire, having traded his armor out for something much simpler involving a vest and lighter armor. He was staring at Signas, standing there on the front steps of his small suburban home, and in particular was eyeing the brown bag Signas held in his hand. "That bad huh?" he asked.

Signas blinked, trying to feign surprise. "Whatever do you mean Xaine?" he asked.

"Don't give me that." Xaine said. "Every time you sent me and my team on a particularly nasty mission, you always brought Scotch and cigarettes to the barracks, and always in a brown paper bag just like that one." He looked at Signas. "You do know I've been retired for a year now right?"  
"I know that." said Signas. "But I need your help."

Xaine said nothing for a moment, but opened the door wide and let Signas in. "Alright lets here it." he said as Signas walked in. The two stood inside a small foyer that lead into the house proper, by the way was a small table with a dish with change, keys and unread mail, a small hall connected to the foyer and had a closet which was used for clothes. The two now sat in Xaine's living room, Signas on a couch and Xaine himself in an arm chair, lighting up the cigarettes and pouring the scotch.

"First of all, why are you coming to me? Why not just send X and Zero?"  
"I can't." said Signas. "They are on assignment and currently under Colonel Redips's jurisdiction."

"Redips?" Xaine looked at Signas. "You serious? He still around?"  
"He's running the Far East HQ and handling the Giga City assignment."

"Yeah that probably won't end well." said Xaine.

"I'll get straight to the point." said Signas. "I'm reactivating the 21st combat rapid response platoon."

Xaine paused for a moment, and looked at Signas. "In this day and age? What could you possibly want my unit for?"

"Because hell pretty much froze over." said Signas.

Xaine blinked, and set his glass down. "Signas, tell me you didn't do what I think you did."

"Afraid so." said Signas. "You're going to Aria City."

Xaine leaned back in his chair, sighing and face palming. "You have got to be kidding me. If Sigma was still leader of the hunters he'd kill you!"

"Yeah I know." said Signas. "But here's the deal Xaine. Mayor Grange called me personally requesting I send someone, anyone to help with apparently a massive Maverick outbreak."

"We have no jurisdiction in that hell hole." said Xaine, picking up his drink and downing it in one shot before refilling. "I'm surprised the mayor had enough balls to make the call, considering how that place is. And he expects us to what, drop everything we're doing and send Hunters in to clean up his mess? Whoever you send would be lucky enough to do their job without getting in the way of every corrupt cop, politician, and mobster in that city."

"As far as the Mayor or anyone else is concerned, you'd answer to no one but me. The mayor was kind enough to agree to giving us full jurisdiction regarding this Maverick outbreak?"

"Is it even real?" Xaine asked.

"I put in a word to the Portland offices to check thing out." said Signas. "We'll know soon enough." He took a sip of his whisky. "A mission like this is right up your alley, and you know damn well the 21st has handled worse."

Xaine leaned back, and took a puff on his cigarette. "All that's left of the 21st is me and Roadbuster. Everyone else is either dead or MIA."

Signas went quiet for a moment. "Eurasia was hard on everyone. Too many lives lost because of Sigma's actions that week."

"Back to the topic on hand." said Xaine. "What about their local law enforcement? "

"According to the mayor the Aria City Police Department and their Maverick Hunting Task force is overwhelmed." said Signas. "Mavericks showing up in drove for the past week or so according to Grange. My guess though it's been going on a lot longer."

"That place is a powder keg ready to go off." said Xaine. "This could just be the fuse finally burning out."

"Thing is, the Mayor specifically asked for X and Zero." said Signas.

"Nothing wrong with that. They're legends." said Xaine. "Unless you find that suspicious?"

"A little bit." said Signas. "But I could just be imagining things."

Xaine looked at Signas. "You look worried. Something about this doesn't feel right does it?" he asked

"If you ask me, there is too many coincidences at work here." said Signas. "Provided Mayor Grange is not lying and there's more mavericks in Aria City than anywhere else in the world."

"You're suspecting it's organized and someone is pulling the strings?" Xaine asked. He looked at his glass as he sat forward. "That many mavericks in such a short amount of time, during an era of relative peace with minimal maverick activity does seem a bit suspect."

"I'll admit the thought crossed my mind on the way here." said Signas.

"Any suspects?" Xaine asked.

"Take your pick." said Signas. "Nearly all of Aria city is controlled by some criminal organization or criminal gang, any one of them could have brought the mavericks in."

"If that's the case this should be handled by the FBI or something." said Xaine.

"Under normal circumstances yes." said Signas. "But this is more than just human criminals up to their usual dealings. Mavericks are involved and therefore it falls to us."

"I don't like it." said Xaine, tapping cigarette ash into the try on the table between them. "This whole thing reeks of conspiracy, and there's no real guarantee that we won't run into interference."

"Then focus on just eliminating the mavericks and avoid the human element." said Signas. "You don't have to concern yourself with their activities."

"And what if we do find a connection?" Xaine asked. "Between the mavericks and one of the human criminals that control Aria City?"

Signas sighed and looked at his own glass. "I don't know."

Xaine rubbed the bridge of his nose before looking at Signas. "Medi is going to kill me for this."

"Medi?" Signas asked.

"My wife. Medical reploid, works at the Metro General Hospital."

"Congratulations." said Signas. "I'm happy for you."

Xaine gave a nod, and finished off his glass before pouring another. "Alright, if you need the 21st on this, I need 3 things no questions asked."

"Of course, name them." said Signas.

"Number 1, access to the entire Hunter database, I can't do this with just myself and Road Buster, I'll need a solid field team and a support unit for communications and medical, and to do that I'll need to be able to recruit from any and all units currently active in the Maverick Hunters, Including X and Zero's unit. I'd also like to get permission to recruit from organizations allied or affiliated with the Maverick Hunters to get some diversity."  
"Done." said Signas. "How many do you think you'll need?"  
"Job like this?" said Xaine. "Nothing large scale, no more than 10 or so, 7 for field work including me, and a 3 man support team."

Signas raised an eyebrow. "Only ten?"

"The only time I've had to ever recruit more than that was the repliforce incident." said Xaine.

"Alright. Whats number 2?" asked Signas.

"Absolute guarantee that we're not going to get fucked over by local law enforcement or political red tape." said Xaine. "Especially if the local criminals are somehow involved in this mess."

"As far as everyone there is concerned, when it comes to the maverick outbreak you have full jurisdiction and answer only to me." said Signas. "I made that clear earlier."

"You did, but it's best to cover all bases." said Xaine. "I want authority to arrest any and all human criminals as though they were considered Maverick."

Signas paused and stared at Xaine. "That kind of authority isn't given out without justification." he said.

"Given the current status of Aria City, it'll be necessary to get this job done." said Xaine. "I wouldn't make such a request if I didn't think it was necessary."

"Very well." said Signas. "No one over there is going to like it though."

"Sucks to be them." said Xaine.

"And number 3?" Signas asked.

Xaine smiled. "Come on Signas, we're the 21st combat rapid response platoon, you know damn well what third request is."

Signas sighed but smiled. "You do know it's that particular 'tradition' of yours that got the 21st its nickname right? And it's reputation."

"Commander." Xaine said, raising his glass in a toast and giving him a wide smile. "That's the best part."

4 days later, Neo Metro City Airport, Hangar bay 5 sunrise.

Approaching from the outside was a tall, well built reploid styled like a martial artist. His upper body and legs are modeled after a martial arts 'Gi' with a torn sleeve design for shoulders, the torn parts flared out like wisp of flames, with the exposed shoulders resembling horned dragon maws, with a red Karate belt tied around the waist, dull 'tron lines' accented the body. The Gi design carried into the legs resembling the pants of a Gi with flared out bottoms. His feet were modeled after the Japanese "Geta" sandal, and made a distinct 'click click' sound as he walked along the asphalt to the hangar. He wore two small beaded bracelets on his wrists, and a larger set of prayer beads were around his neck. His hands were clawed with a draconic look to them, his face consisted of an expressionless face mask with a blue opaque visor, blue spiky 'hair' with a center top knot and a red bandanna around his head above the ear caps. He carried with him a simple shoulder slung duffle bag, as he was told, upon getting his transfer notice, to pack light.

'This looks like the place.' he thought to himself as he approached the side door and entered, the hangar was quiet, and he took note of a lot of crates and boxes which had the Maverick Hunter insignia on the side, so this had to be the right location.

"Hello?" he said walking toward the center of the hangar. "I'm here about the transfer."

No answer. 'Huh, must be the first one to arrive. Well always good to make a good impression and get somewhere early.' He walked over to one of the crates, put his duffle bag down and sat down on the floor, his legs crossed as he placed his hands in his lap cupped, taking a deep breath his visor dimed as if his eyes were closed as he settled into a meditation exercise.

"Oh someone is already here?" A female voice called out causing the reploid to look up from his meditation, watching as a female reploid approached. She was small and petite with green hair and eyes and a cute look to her face. her ear caps had a antenna's attached to them and their looked to be a flip down visor perched on her forehead. she had a black body suit with silver armor over the upper body with rounded shoulders and narrow forearm armor, her waist bare save for a utility belt with a buster gun holstered on the side, so she probably didn't have a built in buster. Her lower leg armor was silver with bronze accents, and her feet were styled with a short heel, overall her figure was flattering and quite attractive. Respectfully she bowed to the reploid. "My name is Raem, I'm a navigator reploid and have been assigned to this unit."  
"Nice to meet you Raem." said the dragon reploid as he stood up, giving a bow in return. "I am Shenlong, disciple of Ansatsuken Karate."

Raem blink, tilting her head. "An...sat...huh?"

"Ansatsuken. It's an old and very traditional martial art." said Shenlong. "I am a student of the current master, Naomi Kasugano. Ansatsuken has passed through the Kasugano family ever since Sensei's Great Great Grandmother Sakura Kasugano became a master herself."

"I see." said Raem, tapping her chin. "But can martial arts really be useful in the field?"

"Anything is useful if you apply it right." the new voice made Shenlong and Raem turn to see another female reploid approaching them, she had green full body armor with brown hair in a pony tail and red eyes, and rounded shoulder pads. Her upper arms were bear showing the black bodysuit underneath, he lower legs consisted of flat soled, solid black boots with white kneecaps at the tip. She was carrying a large case in her hand. "Hi there, I'm Jane from the 10th Sniper Division. Guess we'll be working together."

"Shenlong." said Shen giving a bow. "I'm a rookie hunter so this is my first assignment actually."

"Raem." Raem said with a nervous smile. "I'll be acting as navigator."

Shenlong blinked, realizing something. "Wait you said you were from another unit?"  
"Yup." said Jane as she set the case down. "I was transferred to this mystery unit and told to report here."

"Does anyone know what exactly this unit is?" Shen asked.

Raem and Jane shook their head.

"No sorry." Jane had said. "I'll be honest, I've never heard of a '21st combat rapid response platoon.' until now."

"It could be an old unit." said Raem. "Recently reactivated?"  
"That makes sense." said Shen. "If this unit has just been reactivated after not being used for a long time, then the leader would need to fill the ranks somehow."

"if you ask me it's probably a scam." The new voice was male, and the three turned to watch a slim reploid with brown armor on a blue body suit walk in. His helmet was open ended, trimmed blue with short horns on the side and a pair of goggles on the top of the helmet. His skin was tanned with yellow eyes and he had blue hair in a rat tail coming out the back of his helmet, the feet of his armor was blue while the leg armor itself was brown. He was leaning against one of the crates, shuffling cards.

"Why would you say it's a scam?" Raem asked.

"Oh come on." said the brown reploid. "Look around you, we're in some half empty hangar twiddling our thumbs, probably a prank played by co-workers or something."

He'd nod at Shen. "Especially for you, being a rookie hunter and all, probably a hazing ritual or something."

Jane looked at the brown reploid, then up at the crate he was leaning against and smiled. "Okay wise guy, if this is all one big hazing ritual, how do you explain him?" she asked this as she pointed.

"Him? Him who?" The brown reploid looked confused, turned, looked up and jump back. "Gaah!" standing on the crate above them was a man, human, arms crossed and staring down at the group. He had a shaved head with a single pony tail off the back with an orange face mask over the lower part of his face, exposing his black eyes, a long orange scarf hung off the back of the mask. His body was toned and muscular, a sign of regular exercise and training. He wore an orange sleeveless ninja Gi with Black arm guards on his forearms over white arm wraps. A black sarashi around his stomach. His feet were wrapped in ninja Tabi and tied off with black shin armor. A silver utility belt hung loosely on his hip, attached to it was sword with a narrow thin blade, and a dual hilt like a tonfa, along with various tools. Standing by him was a mechaniloid Wolf, black with gold highlights and sharp red eyes. His tail swishing side to side.

"Strider Musashi, at your service." he said.

The four Reploids all blinked, a mix of awe and confusion in their eyes.

"I've never seen a Strider this close up before." said Shenlong.

"I don't think anyone has." said the brown reploid. "at least not anyone that's alive."

"So." Raem said, looking at Musashi. "You were transferred from the Striders to a Maverick Hunter unit?"

"Apparently." said Musashi as he calmly jumped down to the floor, his wolf taking the opportunity to lie down on the crate with a yawn. "The Strider organization has lent a hand to the Maverick Hunters on occasion."

"Whoever our new commander is sure has some connections if he can get a Strider." said Jane.

"Must be someone very high up." said Raem.

"Well whoever he or she is, certainly has good taste." said Jane with a grin.

Shen looked to Musashi, and would bow. "it's an honor to be able to work a Strider. I am Shenlong, student of Naomi Kasugano."

That made Musashi raise an eyebrow. "Kasugano you say? So you know Ansatsuken?"

"Yes, you know of it?"

"Indeed, the martial art is legendary." said Musashi.

"So do you know anything about this unit Mr. Musashi?" Raem asked. "It seems like no one here knows anything, other than it may be an old unit recently reactivated,

Musashi shook his head. "This is my first time working with Maverick hunter directly, the one who may know is Strider Hiryu, one of our top members, he has been active for a long time, and would probably know."

"So why isn't he here then?" asked the brown reploid.

"Because he is on assignment that's why." said Musashi. "I was sent to this unit in his place. I am an A class Strider, my skills speak for themselves."

"Ah you guys use a ranking system as well?" Jane asked. "I'm S rank myself, best sniper there. Few more years and I should be Special S."

"Thats amazing." said Raem. "I'm A myself."

"Same." said the brown reploid.

"E rank sadly." said Shenlong. "But then again this is my first assignment as a hunter and I am new."

"so is it just us 5?" said Jane. "Feels like there should be more."

As if on cue footsteps echoed, causing them to all turn and seeing another reploid approach. He was of average height and build and wore armor with a slight purple tint to it with elegant gold trimming over a black bodysuit, a light purple colored mantle was draped over his shoulder and hung down his back bearing what looked to be an old style coat of arms. A beam saber was sheathed at his hip and on the gauntlet of his right arm was a small round shield like a buckler. The helmet looked pretty standard, but it included a visor that seemed to flip down for combat, resembling the visors on medieval knight armor. He looked to the group and gave a polite bow.

"Ah greetings, you must be my new team mates I take it? My name is Galahad, Special S class hunter, Knights of Avalon." the accent was very noticeably British.  
Everyone raised an eye brow at him.

"Knights of Avalon?" asked the brown reploid. "what the hell is that?"

"Ah my apologies deer hunter." said Galahad. "I forgot that you American hunters may not be familiar with the name. The proper designation would be the 18th Knight Corp, stationed in the London HQ, which, in turn, makes up part of the Maverick Hunter European Branch."

"Is that so?" said the brown hunter, scratching the back of his helmet in confusion.

"This is the meeting is it not?" Galahad asked. "For the 21st Combat Rapid Response Platoon."

"Yes it is, you are in the right place." said Musashi.

Galahad looked over at Musashi, a little surprised. "You're human?"

Musashi nodded. "I'm on loan to this unit from the Strider organization, you may call me Musashi."

"Interesting. I've not met a strider before." said Galahad. "I had always thought them a myth." he smiled. "I must say, Commander Xaine was right when he had mentioned that working under him for this mission would be interesting."

The brown reploid blinked, and turned a glare at Galahad. "What did you say?"

"Hmm?" Galahad looked at the brown reploid, confused. "Is something wrong?"  
"That name, say it again!" the brown reploid said, a hint of anger rising in his voice?"  
"You mean 'Commander Xaine?' " Galahad asked. "He is the leader of this unit is he not? He picked me up from the airport personally yesterday and informed me of where the unit was going to meet and..." he stopped talking, watching the brown reploid started to walk away, more importantly, toward the exit.

"Hey, where are you going?" Shenlong asked. "Everyone isn't here yet! Hell our commander isn't here yet!"

"Back to the 5th Calvary." said the Brown reploid. "Where it's safe."

"Safe?" Jane looked at the reploid confused. "what the hell does that suppose to mean?"

"It means at the end of the day I'll still be alive, and all of you will probably be dead." said the brown reploid, he got to the door and started to open it.

"Stand down hunter." the voice did not belong to anyone in the group, and it made the brown reploid grit his teeth. "Step away from that door now."

Approaching from the other end of the hangar were three reploids. Xaine among them wearing his old Maverick Hunter armor, a bit of polish and some new gold accents on the squared shoulders, forearms and legs, as well as a holster for a buster gun on the belt. He kept his arms folded behind his back and his eyes were on the brown reploid attempting to leave. To his left was a tall reploid who practically towered over everyone there, with heavy armor over a green bodysuit. the chest was orange with large brown shoulder pads, brown forearm armor with green fists, heavy brown leg armor with green boots. Various panels on the forearms, shoulders and legs gave hints to hidden weapons, and he had what appeared to be a belt fed beam cannon mounted on his left shoulder, the belt attached to a pack on his back, and two holstered Buster guns. His helmet was brown with orange antenna and a green V visor. On Xaine's right was a female reploid with a helmet styled like shoulder length brown hair with a grey streak on one side. She was tall and fairly attractive with a segmented Skirt that came down to her knees, the feet of her boots modeled after high heels and she wore a lab coat over her silver red armor. Across her chest was a red Cross emblem, which was also visible on the skirt.

The large reploid, who had given the order, looked at the brown reploid. "Did you hear me? I said step away from the door hunter."

"Fuck you." the brown reploid said, turning and eyeing the three.

"What did you say?" the large reploid asked.

"You heard me." said the brown reploid. "Fuck you, fuck him!" here he pointed at Xaine, who didn't give a response. "and fuck the Wreckers! I'm not going on a suicide mission!"

Shenlong blinked. "Suicide mission? This is a suicide mission?"

"Oh what you didn't know?" the brown reploid asked. "Anyone who follows that old fool over there never comes back! This unit is cursed and bad luck."

"You done complaining?" Musashi asked. "If you can't handle a little danger then leave."

"Oh shut up Mr. high and mighty Strider!" said the brown reploid. "You don't know this asshole like I do! He takes hunters with bright futures and potential into this little 'wrecking crew' of his and gets them all killed, well all except him and his bitch there." the last comment was aimed at the large reploid, rather than the female.

"You little bastard!" said the large reploid. "This is insubordination you know that?!"

"Then Arrest me and throw me in jail!" said the brown reploid. "It's safer then wherever the hell you're going."

Musashi stepped toward the brown reploid, staying calm as the cyber wolf rose his head, sensing the commotion. "We face danger every day, regardless of our organization." he said. "Every mission I'm assigned I treat it as if it's my last, because I may not come back from it. This assignment is no different. All you're doing is whining about nothing. If anyone should shut up it should be you."  
"Don't preach to me Strider." said the brown reploid as he turned back to the door. "You want to throw your life away pointlessly go right ahead and follow that fool. Me, I'm going back to my unit."

"This is your unit now." said the female reploid. "You were transferred from the 5th remember?"

"Then transfer me back!" said the brown reploid. "I'm not staying in this unit, I'm not throwing my life away for some stupid cause." He turned back, glaring venom at Xaine. "And I sure as hell won't take orders from that murderer!"

Another silence. Everyone looking back and forth.

"Murderer?" Jane asked. "Isn't that a little extreme?"

"If the shoe fits." said the brown reploid. "The entire unit goes maverick and only the commander and his bitch survived?"  
"Okay that's it!" said the Large reploid as he stepped toward the brown reploid. "I'm going to give you a piece of my mi-" he stopped when Xaine raised his hand to block him. "Sir?"  
"Stand down Road Buster." said Xaine. "Everyone stand down." He lowered his hand, and quietly approached the brown reploid, stopping when he got close. "Whats your name son?"

The brown reploid glared. "Why do you care?"

Xaine said nothing. The brown reploid glared at him again. "It's Breaker." he said.

Roadbuster looked up hearing the name. "Did you say Breaker?"

"And what if I did?" Breaker asked.

"I'm confused." said Raem. "whats going on?"  
"Apparently, bad blood." said Musashi, crossing his arms.

"This is about Crash isn't it?" Xaine asked. "That is why you are so opening hostile and angry with me."

Breaker twitched, his anger boiling over as he reeled back and punched Xaine in the face, causing the older reploid to stumble. "DON'T YOU DARE SAY HER NAME IN FRONT OF ME! SHE'S DEAD BECUASE OF YOU!"

"Commander!" Roadbuster again moved toward Breaker, but Xaine raised his hand.

"I said stand down Roadbuster!" Xaine said. He rubbed his jaw and looked at Breaker. "Hell of a punch you got there." Breaker said nothing to this.

"Who is Crash?" Galahad asked, confused.

"Hell if I know." said Jane.

"Crash, was Breaker's sister." said the medic.

"Was?" Galahad asked.

"As you just heard, she's dead." said the medic.

"You want to be punched next doc?" Breaker asked looking at the medic.

"Lay a hand on my wife and you'll back a stump." said Xaine.

Breaker looked at Xaine. "You wouldn't be able to cut my arm off if you tried old man."

"It wouldn't be me cutting your arm off." said Xaine.

Breaker said nothing, and merely turned his gaze back at Xaine. "She had a future old man. Crash made S rank, worked her ass off to get there. She would have made Special S, possibly join the 17th unit or one of the other elite units, but no, no you had to come along and recruit her for this!" he said this as held his arms out. "You drag her away from her life and what happened huh? WHAT HAPPENED?!"

Xaine said nothing, merely looked away.

"I'll tell you what happened you son of a bitch! SHE GOT INFECTED AND TURNED MAVERICK!" Again, Xaine said nothing.

"Well?" Breaker asked. "Say something!"

"What happened to your sister...was terrible, I know." said Xaine. "Nothing I can say could calm the anger that you carry. But please understand the circumstances."

"Circumstances?" Breaker asked. "WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES? What can you possibly tell me that justifies MURDERING MY SISTER!?"

"No one murdered Crash!" said Roadbuster.

"You might as well have!" said Breaker. "She'd still be alive if you didn't drag her off to god knows where!"

"Damn it Breaker listen!" said Roadbuster.

"No! Nothing you say will ever make me listen to you!" said Breaker.

"It was the Eurasia incident." Xaine said finally.

Everyone went quiet, even Breaker, who up until now had been doing nothing but yell and rage at Xaine, went quiet.

"My god." said Raem.

"Christ." Jane added.

"The Virus was everywhere." said Xaine. "Sigma saw to that. No one was safe and it was extremely dangerous. Every mission carried with it the risk of being infected by the virus, regardless of what unit you were in."

Breaker gritted his teeth and looked away.

"He is right." said Galahad. "There would have been no telling when and if someone went maverick the next time they deployed, even I lost close friends and comrades to that disaster, but if I got angry and blamed Commander Arthur for every Knight we lost, then I am not worthy of being called a Knight."

Breaker said nothing.

"Crash was one of the best hunters to serve the 21st." said Xaine. "And you're wrong about one thing."

"Huh?"  
"I didn't recruit her, she volunteered." said Xaine. "during the Doppler riots when HQ was attacked, she helped fight off the invaders, and was more than ready to take the fight to Doppler. Dr. Caine was planning to send the 21st into Doppler Town ahead of X and Zero to cause a distraction, when she heard about it she came to me and volunteered her services."

"There is one other thing you're wrong about." Roadbuster added. "She didn't go Maverick like the others did, in fact she's the reason the commander and I are still alive."

Breaker blinked, staring wide eyed. "But when you came to tell me Crash had died, you said everyone went maverick and..."

"And you didn't even let us finish." said Roadbuster. "You slammed the door in our faces before we could tell you what happened!"

"Your sister meant a lot to you." said Xaine. "So I understand your anger." He sighed, and then smacked Breaker upside the head.

"OWW!" Breaker said rubbing his head, Galahad stared confused while Jane tried to hold back her laughter as Raem gasped.

"Next time pay attention before jumping to conclusions." said Xaine.

"The hell did you hit me for?!" Breaker asked.

"Well not for nothing you did punch me in the jaw." said Xaine. "I'd say we're even now. Now then, are you done with your temper tantrum? Crash would be disappointed to see you whine and carry on like this."

Breaker said nothing just grumbled.

"You know she recommended you for the 21st." said Xaine.

"Huh?" he looked up. "She did?"

"Yes." said Xaine. "So instead of crying and throwing a fit, why not honor your sister's memory."

"Fine." Breaker said with a sigh. "Better be worth it."

"Oh I'm sure you'll find it interesting." said Xaine. He turned to the group, hands behind his back again as he walked over to them. "He is right about one thing, this may end up being a suicide mission. The odds will be against us make no mistake. This will not be easy."

"If I may ask sir." said Raem. "Where exactly are we going?"  
"Aria City." said Xaine.

Everyone blinked. Jane let out a low whistle, even Musashi looked a little surprised.

"Tis a tall order to be certain." said Galahad. "While this is my first trip to the states, even I have heard about that place."

"Yeah, none of it good." said Jane. "You won't find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy that's for sure."

"Seriously?" Breaker said. "You're quoting Star Wars?"

"What can I say, I'm a movie buff." said Jane, she looked around at the group then back at Xaine. "Is this all of us sir?"  
"There should be one more." said Roadbuster. "Looks like he's running a little la-" Roadbuster was interrupted by a loud crash causing everyone to turn as a loud "OWWW" echoed in the hangar.

"That must be him." Xaine said. The 9 of them walked in the direction of the sound and found themselves staring at a stout reploid with a round Orange body with short orange arms and legs trimmed with construction caution stripes. His helmet styled like a construction helmet with white ear caps which resembled a mettaur in a way. His chubby face had a nervous look as he rubbed his head and sat up. Several boxes of what appeared to be tools scattered all over the floor.

"Hey you okay there buddy?" Jane asked.

"Huh?" He looked up. "Oh yeah, just tripped is all." He stood up and saluted. "Class C Hunter Gear reporting for duty. I'll be handling any and all mechanic work for the duration of the mission."

"The hell did someone that clumsy become a mechanic?" Breaker asked.

"Sorry about that, I was late and running as fast as I could." said Gear. "I apologize for my tardiness."

"At least Gear." said Xaine. "We're all here, that is what matters."

"So ten of us all together." said Shenlong. "Against what exactly?"  
"The largest Maverick outbreak in history that's what." said Roadbuster.

"A Maverick outbreak?" Breaker asked, deadpan. "In Aria City? Seriously? Those are like a dime a dozen in that place."

"I do agree with Sir Breaker commander." said Galahad. "I mean, from what I've heard Aria City is flooded with crime."  
"And not for nothing sir." added Jane. "we don't have jurisdiction."

"We do now." said Xaine. "Full jurisdiction in all matters regarding this outbreak."

"When did it start?" Musashi asked, they were all gathered in the original spot, with Musashi leaning against the crate where his Cyber Wolf sat.

"A week ago Sunday." said Xaine.

"But today is Thursday sir." said Raem. "Why did it take this long?"

"We needed to make sure this outbreak was legit." said the medic."Signas had the Portland HQ investigate while he, myself and Roadbuster recruited all of you. We got confirmation this morning, that's why we weren't here right away."  
"Who are you again?" Breaker asked looking at the medic.

"Medi, at your service." she said. "I'll be acting as Field medic and nurse."

"Why even bother though?" Breaker asked. "I mean, this is Aria City we are talking about."  
"Even so, there are regular civilians." said Galahad. "To leave them to such a fate is unbecoming of a Knight, let alone a hunter. If the situation in Aria City is so bad that they are finally allowing Maverick Hunters to operate in the city, we should help however we can."

"I agree with Galahad." said Raem. "I mean, even if Aria City is the scum of the earth, not everyone living there is corrupt, those are the ones we should be fighting for and saving."

"I have a question if I may." said Musashi. "What will happen if we end up crossing someone other than Mavericks? Aria City is pretty much controlled by the mob. Sooner or later we are going to start stepping on toes that would rather not be touched."

"Then we arrest them, be they human or reploid." said Xaine. That got everyone staring.

"Maverick Hunters, arresting humans?" Raem asked. "Is that even allowed?"

"In this situation it is." said Xaine. "We have full jurisdiction in Aria City, we answer to no one but Commander Signas, and anyone who tries to interfere in our mission to clear out the Mavericks and restore some semblance of order in Aria City will be labeled Maverick and arrested on the spot."

"You sure know how to pull out all the stops sir." said Shenlong.

"It's how the 21st gets the job done." said Xaine. "Alright everyone, I think that's enough orientation."

They all looked from one to another.

"Just the ten of us against potentially thousands of mavericks." said Jane with a grin. "Sounds like I'm in a Kurosawa movie."  
"I'll do my best to help." said Raem. "my abilities as a navigator will not fail you."  
"And I'll keep our equipment in top shape." said Gear rubbing the bridge of his nose. "If you break it I can fix it good as new."

"Leave the recon to me and Raijin." said Musashi, patting the Cyber Wolf on the head. "And if need be, I'll be the one to take care of any human threats."

"Can't believe I'm actually doing this." said Breaker. "But if Crash wanted me on the team who am I to argue? You got yourselves a pilot, I'm also handy with demolitions if you need something blown up."

"I will do my best as well." said Shenlong. "As a disciple of Master Kasugano, you will get no less than 100% from me."

"On my honor as a Knight of Avalon, I will protect you all with my life." said Galahad. "So long as I breathe none of you will come to harm, on this I swear."

"God I hope that doesn't mean you'll be following us around like some creepy stalker." Breaker said.

"Perish the thought Sir Breaker." said Galahad. "I only meant while on missions."  
"Well technically this is one long extermination mission." said Breaker.

"Um, Commander Xaine, sir?" said Gear.

"Yes Gear?" asked Xaine.

"How exactly are we getting to Aria City? It's on the west coast."  
"Simple." said Roadbuster, nodding toward the end of the Hangar. "We fly."

The group looked ahead, seeing what appeared to be a Hunter class Rogumer drop ship parked there in the hangar. It was predominately Blue with red trimming on the wings and 'tail fin' on top.

"Once we load up the Rogumer we'll head out." said Xaine.

"Load it up?" Jane asked tilting her head. "With what?"  
"Everything in this hangar." said Xaine. "All of these crates and their contents are property of the 21st combat rapid response platoon." he turned to the group and smiled. "Straight from the Hunter Armory, unlimited access."

Jane and Breaker both stared in awe, like kids at Christmas.

"Did you just say?"  
"Unlimited access?" the two of them said.

"That's right." said Xaine. "Welcome to the Wreckers everyone. Those Mavericks won't know what hit them."

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: THIS FANFIC IS BASED ON AN RP DONE BY MYSELF AND FRIENDS ABOUT A GROUP OF HUNTERS ASSIGNED A MISSION TO ELIMINATE A LARGE AMOUNT OF MAVERICKS DURING THE EVENTS OF MEGAMAN X COMMAND MISSION. EACH CHAPTER IS A CONVERSION OF LOGS OF THE RP THAT WERE SAVED, OFTEN WITH EXPANDED SCENES AND NEW DIALOUGE TO EXPLAIN THINGS BETTER. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF XAINE, ROADBUSTER, BREAKER, SHENLONG AND MEDI (who is only mentioned once in the original rp), THE REMAINING 5 CHARACTERS WERE CREATED BY ME TO ACT AS REPLACEMENTS FOR THE CHARACTERS USED BY MY FRIENDS IN THE ORIGINAL RP, DONE SO OUT OF RESPECT FOR MY FRIENDS AND THEIR CHARACTER'S, WHO DID NOT WISH TO HAVE THEIR CHARACTERS USED IN THIS VERSION OF THE STORY, AS SUCH, SCENES THAT WE HAVE DONE IN THE RP WILL BE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT WHEN TRANSLATED TO THE FANFIC VERSION, OR EVEN EXPANDED ON FOR STORY PURPOSES, IN ORDER TO ACCOMODATE THE CHANGE IN CHARACTERS, AS THERE ARE ONLY 10 MAIN CHARACTERS IN THIS ITERAION OF THE STORY WHEREAS IN THE RP THERES AT LEAST 13 OR SO CHARACTERS WITH EVERYONE RPING MULTIPLE CHARACTERS AT A TIME. ALL THE SAME, WE DO HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS FANFIC. (and for all the Zero/Gate fans, the next chapter is coming soon, I promise.)**

 **THE NICKNAME 'WRECKERS' ALONG WITH THE HUNTER ROADBUSTER PAY TRIBUTE TO THE SAME NAMED GROUP AND CHARACTER FROM THE TRANSFORMERS SERIES. THE WRECKERS WERE ESSENTIALLY AN AUTOBOT BLACK OPS TEAM, AND ROADBUSTER WAS A LONG TIME MEMBER ACROSS THE FRANCHISE. I ALWAYS LIKED THE CONCEPT OF THE WRECKERS AND THOUGHT THEY WOULD WORK WELL AS A MAVERICK HUNTER UNIT.**


	2. Chapter 2 - Departure

"Isn't this a little...ah what's the word..." Galahad asked, lost in thought.

"Overkill?" Gear asked, as he and Galahad watched worker mechaniloids loading crate after crate onto the Rogumer, including one or two large ones that apparently contained Ride Armors.

"Yes that's it." said Galahad. "Overkill, this is most certainly overkill."

"I have to agree." said Shenlong. "I mean I understand there is going to be a LOT of Mavericks overrunning Aria City, but do we really need all these weapons?"  
"Of course we do!" Jane walked over looking giddy as she watched the crates being loaded on. "According to Roadbuster, this is a time honored tradition of the Wreckers to have this much firepower."

"While I am all for tradition." said Galahad as he rubbed the back of his head. "It just seems a little much."

"Subtle isn't exactly what we do." The group turned watching as Roadbuster walked over.  
"Commander Roadbuster." Galahad said with a salute.  
"At ease Galahad, no need to be so formal." said Roadbuster.

"So if we don't do subtle, what do we do?" Shenlong asked.

"Cause a big scene that's what." said Roadbuster. "We're the first ones in and the last one's out. Our missions are generally behind the scenes causing as much destruction as possible to keep the heat off of other hunter units in the areas."  
"So we draw everyone's attention to us, taking out as many as possible?" Shenlong asked.

"More or less." said Roadbuster. "Basically we go into an area before the main unit, and cause a commotion, or a distraction, often designed to draw enemies away from another installation, thus reducing security and threat level at the particular location."  
"And you do that with an over abundance of firepower?" Galahad asked.

"What better way to get the enemy's attention then with a nice big explosion?" Roadbuster asked.  
"Hmm." Galahad said, tapping his chin. "I suppose it would work as a viable diversionary operation."

"Our work doesn't end there." said Roadbuster. "As I said before, first ones in, last ones out. So even when our primary objective has been achieved, we stick around and make sure nothing goes wrong until the main team have completed their objective and got out, we also deal with any stragglers and leftovers."  
"So we double as a cleanup crew?" Shenlong asked.

Roadbuster nodded. "However that's not all we do. We also do rescue work when it's needed."

"Roadbuster." Xaine came over, causing Galahad to go rigid again and salute. Xaine raised an eyebrow.

"Er sorry, sir." said Galahad, relaxing. "Force of habit. I'll try to be a little less formal."

"What's up Xaine?" Roadbuster asked.

"How are the preparations?" Xaine asked.

"Almost done." said Roadbuster. "Just a few more crates to load."

"Good." said Xaine. "Everyone get on board we'll be taking off soon, and grab whatever you can to help speed up the loading."  
"Yes sir." they said, saluting and heading for the Rogumer.

"You sure know how to pick them." Roadbuster said, watching Gear, Galahad, Shenlong and Jade. "Never mind the fact you recruited Crash's brother of all people." he turned his head, seeing Musashi and his cyber wolf. "How the hell did you recruit a Strider?"

Xaine pulled out a pack of cigarettes, calmly lit one and took a puff. "Kuramoto owed the Maverick Hunters a favor."

Roadbuster looked at Xaine. "We've been partners for 3 years you and me, and I know just about every favor a hunter has collected on here and there. But a favor from the Striders? How did you manage that?"

"Remember that trip to Moscow we took prior to repliforce?" Xaine asked.

"You mean the incident in Kazakh City?" Roadbuster asked. "That was the striders?"

"Yeah." said Xaine, taking another puff. "Apparently one of Kuramoto's Strider's was performing a mission there, some assassination or another, and put in a word to the Maverick Hunters to cause a distraction so his agent could infiltrate the place without a problem."

Roadbuster scratched the back of his head. "Well that explains the uniforms and the potted plants."

"In exchange for our help, Kuramoto offered to lend the Maverick Hunters use of one of his Striders for their next major mission whatever in my be."

"And when you went diving for recruits, Signas let you call in on that favor?" Roadbuster asked. "You could have at least called in the guy we helped in Kazakh."

"He's on another assignment." said Xaine taking a puff on his cigarette.

"That line is turning into a running gag, and a bad one at that." said Roadbuster.

"Well Kuramoto assured me that Musashi is capable, both in a fight and on recon missions. He'll be able to go places in Aria none of us will thanks to his training."

Xaine took another puff on his cigarette. "And you know I prefer talent and skill over accomplishments Roadbuster. So no matter how awesome the Strider from the Kazakh mission is, if he doesn't have the talent and skill to go with it, why bother recruiting him for this mission?"  
"Well, aside from him and Galahad, none of the others really stand out." said Roadbuster.

"And is that a problem?" Xaine asked. "You and I are only A rank hunters after all, and Medi is a civilian medic. Everyone else is either S or A, then there's Gear who's only C rank and Shenlong, who is a newcomer."

"With an assignment of this magnitude, I'd have thought you'd grab as many special S hunters as possible." said Roadbuster.

"Rank isn't everything." said Xaine. "Remember we recruit based solely on rank. Individual talent and ability is also a must, and these kids have what it takes."

"I hope so." said Roadbuster. "This mission doesn't feel right."

"Yeah Signas said the same thing." said Xaine as the two started walking to the Rogumer. "Too many coincidences, that's what he said. Frankly I'd have to agree. Think about it Buster, this many mavericks in one place all at once?"  
"Does seem a little fishy." said Roadbuster. "But we should worry about it after we clear out the mavericks." He stopped, something clicking in his head as he looked to Xaine. "Is that why you got authorization to arrest humans? You suspect one of the criminal organizations that has the city carved up like a thanksgiving turkey don't you?"

"Well there is that." said Xaine. "But to be honest I got the authorization cause sooner or later we'll step on the wrong toes, and I don't want to get stuck behind the corruption and politics of that place when we do."

"Well if we got one thing going for us." said Roadbuster. "They won't be able to buy their way out of a maverick branding."

"Exactly." said Xaine. "That at least affords us some advantage, but at the same time let's try not to abuse it too much. If any it's more of a deterrent to allow us to do our job without interference."  
"Right." said Roadbuster. "Man who would have thought trying to wipe out Mavericks would be THIS much of a pain in the ass."

"Well we're not just dealing with some random maverick insurrection or virus outbreak." Xaine said as the two boarded the Rogumer. "There is a potential human element involved who may or may not be pulling strings behind the scenes."

"So it's either one big coincidence." said Roadbuster. "Or one of the big names mobsters is involved."

"And that is what worries me." said Xaine.

"All you ever do is worry." said Roadbuster.

Xaine smiled and hit the intercom. "Breaker, everyone is on board and the Rogumer is loaded."

"Copy that." said Breaker. "Prepare for lift off."

Up front in the Rogumer cockpit, Breaker was going through startup procedures, quickly and deftly flipping switches with a practice hand.

"This is your captain speaking." Breaker said over the intercom. "Please observe the seatbelt sign, keep all cell phones and electronic devices off during takeoff, and please enjoy the flight, next stop, Crime central!" The engines of the Rogumer roared with life as the hangar roof opened up. the Rogumer rising and heading into the sky.

An hour had passed, the Rogumer on autopilot as Breaker was now in the back with the others, a game of poker underway between him, Roadbuster, Galahad, Jane, and Xaine in the break room.

"Whats wrong Breaker? Nervous?" Roadbuster ask as he raised the pot by 500. "Maybe you should stay in the cockpit."  
"The only one whose nervous is you Roadbuster." said Breaker as he matched Buster's bet, he looked to Jane. "Your move."

"I'll raise." said Jane with a grin. "1000."

A low whistle.

"Too rich for my blood." said Xaine setting his cards down, all eyes on Galahad who was contemplating his cards.

"Down to you Knight boy." said Breaker. "You in or are you chickening out like the commander."  
"Hmm." Galahad looked over his cards again, calmly set them down and moved all his money in the pile. "I go all in, that is the correct term is it not?"

Breaker raised an eyebrow and just grinned. "Okay I'll bite." he said, pushing his money in.

"I'm out." said Roadbuster putting his cards down.

"Yeah same." said Jane. All eyes were now on Breaker and Galahad.

"Show em." said Breaker, setting his cards down and revealing Kings and Queens. "Full House."

"My that is a strong hand." Galahad said, as he calmly set down a 10, J, Q, K and A of spades. "Now how do you say it again? 'Read em and weep'?"

Breaker's jaw dropped, Jane stared in disbelief and Xaine just shook his head.

"Are you fucking shitting me?" said Breaker, watching at Galahad gathered up his winnings. "How lucky can you get?"

Galahad looked up from counting up his winnings. "Oh it's not luck my dear Sir Breaker. This isn't my first rodeo, as it were, when it comes to gambling, plus you're easy to read, your tells are far too obvious." Breaker's eye twitch and everyone chuckled.

"I am not easy to read!" said Breaker. "I have the best poker face in the 5th Calvary."  
"Then the rest of the 5th Calvary must be worse than you." said Galahad.

Breaker grumbled, got up and walked back to the cockpit. "I think I'll do a barrel roll next time you're sleeping." he said.

Jane burst out laughing. "Oh man that was awesome." she said. "How did you manage a royal flush?"  
"Well, there is always some luck involved." said Galahad.

"Luck nothing." said Jane. "You British types seem to be way too lucky when it comes to gambling."  
"My dear Lady Jane." Galahad said, standing with a bow. "I think you watch too many spy movies."  
"Whats wrong with that?" Jane asked. "Spy movies are great." She perked up. "Oh! That's right!" she grinned and raced off to the cargo hold. "I'll be right back."

"Where is she going?" Raem asked, having walked in just as Jane ran out.

"Storage it looks like." said Roadbuster.

Raem blinked. "Why is she going there?"

"I know why." said Gear, popping up from behind a chair, he had apparently been reading a magazine. "I took inventory of everything we have, which is quite a lot let me ask you. Among them was an extensive Holovid collection. Apparently it belongs to Jane."

"Why would she bring that?" Raem asked.

"Movie nights of course!" Jane came back in, holding a vid case. "You know, something fun to do in between retiring mavericks and beating up gangsters."

"You do realize it'll be another hour or so before we reach Aria City airspace." said Roadbuster. "We don't have time for an in flight movie."

"Ah don't be such a stick in the mud." said Jane. "Let's at least relax a little bit and enjoy a movie while we can."

In the Med bay, Medi was currently going over all the medical supplies they were able to procure, tapping her pen on her chin as she double checked the notes.

'Going to have to acquire more, depending on how long this mission goes.' she thought. 'hopefully we can get the hospital to cooperate.' she looked over and blinked, surprised by what she saw. "Oh, Mr. Musashi. I didn't see you there."

"Apologies for the intrusions." said Musashi.

"No need." said Medi. "The Med bay is open to everyone. I would have thought you'd be with the others in the break room though."

"Striders don't mingle." said Musashi.

"Nonsense, everyone mingles." said Medi.

"Then why aren't you out there mingling?" Musashi asked.

"Because if I was out there, I'd be in that poker game and if I was in my poker game my husband wouldn't be able to win a single hand. At least with me here in the med bay he at least has a chance." Medi gave Musashi a sly, if playful smile that made the Strider raise an eyebrow.

"Is he that bad?" Musashi asked, oddly curious.

"Oh no he's a good poker player. I'm just better." said Medi. She looked through the list of supplies again. "It's one of the reasons we stopped going to Atlantic City, at least stopped going together." she set the list down and looked at Musashi. "The thing is Musashi, you are a part of a team now, a maverick hunter unit, we're not all one man armies like X or Zero or even you and the other Striders. We're just normal hunters."

"Does that include you?" Musashi asked.

"Who me? No I'm a civilian reploid." said Medi. "I volunteered to help when Xaine couldn't find a capable medic. What about you, what made you become a Strider?"

"Family." said Musashi. "our family has been a part of the Striders for generations."

"Tradition is good." said Medi. "I hope you do your family proud." she sifted through her pockets, pulling out a pack of slims and took one out, lighting it. "So were you hand pick for this assignment, or did you volunteer?"

"Volunteered." said Musashi. "Though I'm sure if commander Xaine had the option, he would have wanted Hiryu rather than me."  
"And why is that?" Medi asked, leaning against a desk.

"Hiryu is our best agent, highly decorated with a perfect record. He would have been the better pick for this mission."  
Medi smiled. "Nonsense, if there is one thing Xaine never does, is pick someone based on their accomplishments and reputation. He always looks for the best and brightest regardless of rank, valuing talent more than anything. 10 times out of 10 he'd pick you over this Hiryu person every time, I'm sure of it."

Musashi looked at Medi, and smiled slightly under his mask. "You flatter me."

"I'm quite serious." said Medi. "I mean look at this time, out of everyone here that is a Maverick Hunter, only one of us is a Special S rank hunter. Hell that Shenlong kid is a bottom of the barrel E rank, but he's on this team because Xaine acknowledges his Martial ability and skill in Ansatsuken. As for you, you're what, A rank in your organization? You may not the top of the order, but that doesn't mean your skills are worthless. So trust in Xaine's judgment."

Musashi nodded.

"Besides." Medi said with a grin. "Think about how jealous this Hiryu guy is when you return from this mission, taking on a massive number of mavericks the likes no one has ever seen in this history of this conflict."

Again, a slight smile was on Musashi' concealed face. "The jury is still out on whether or not Hiryu actually has emotions."

"Oh dear." said Medi. "That would have been an automatic disqualification."

That got a chuckle out of Musashi.

It had been about 30 minutes as Breaker sat in the cockpit, piloting the Rogumer and keeping an eye out on the horizon. Flipping on the coms he sat back in the pilot seat. "Xaine this is Breaker, ETA to Aria City 20 minutes."

"Roger that, keep me posted." said Xaine.

Breaker nodded, then blinked, turning to the currently empty navigator chair and hearing something.

"Breaker to Raem." he said over the coms. "Can you come up to the cockpit, there's com chatter coming through the outgoing coms, think you can sort it out?"  
"On my way Breaker." said Raem.

Breaker gave a nod and turned off coms and looked ahead. 'Man if only you could see me now Crash.' he thought to himself.

Raem came into the cockpit a few seconds later, taking her spot at the navigation console as she placed the headset on and started adjusting the signals.

"It started up just a few seconds ago." said Breaker.

"Probably local chatter from the city since we're getting close." said Raem. She listened for a moment, and her eyes widen. "Oh god." she said.

"Huh?" Breaker looked over. "Raem whats wrong?"  
Raem said nothing as she turned on the com. "Commander Xaine come to the Cockpit right away, it's an emergency." at the same time, she was busy furiously opening various communication channels.

"What are you doing?" Breaker asked.

"Trying to improve the signal." said Raem. "Make sure what I'm hearing is correct."  
"Raem what's wrong?" Xaine came in, followed by Roadbuster. Raem looked up taking off the head set.

"Our navigation comlink picked up radio chatter originating from Aria City." said Raem. "A large number of mavericks have laid siege to the main highway that connects most of the city together."

"How long ago?" Xaine asked.

"An hour, from what I can tell." said Raem. She put the headset back on and began to listen again, making adjustments here and there to improve the signal. "It's sounds like the Aria City Police Department's S.W.A.T team has the highway completely closed off and barricaded to prevent most of the Mavericks from getting out."

"What about rescue efforts?" asked Roadbuster. "The police must at least be trying to get civilians to safety."

Raem shook her head. "As far as I can tell no rescue is being attempted...um...it sounds like Police are to..." she blinked, looking disgusted. "sit back and wait until the mavericks kill themselves off, and then check for survivors."

"Are you kidding me?" said Breaker, at this point having put the Rogumer back on auto pilot. "That highway no doubt has humans trapped on it that were merely commuting either to or from work, and the police aren't doing anything? I thought the ACPD handled maverick threats."

"Not the entire department." said Xaine. "There is a dedicated 'hunter division' but that's about it."

"So SWAT just sits on their asses and wait since they aren't qualified to handle mavericks?" Roadbuster asked. "At least say that this hunter division of theirs is on route."

Raem shook her head. "Nothing that I can make out."

"Whats the call commander?" Breaker asked.

"Roadbuster, gather everyone in the cargo hold." said Xaine.

"Yes sir!" said Roadbuster as he headed out.

"Breaker adjust our heading and head for the highway. Raem I want you to get in touch with the hospital in the city and tell them to get transports ready to deploy on our signal."  
"On it." said Raem.

"And find out who makes up their hunter division." Xaine added.

2 minutes later, in the cargo hold.  
Shenlong, Jane, Gear, Musashi, Galahad, Medi, Roadbuster and Xaine were all gathered, Xaine having just explained the situation at hand.

"Are you serious?" Shenlong asked, in near disbelief. "Mavericks are running rampant on the highway, there is a possibility of human survivors and the police do nothing but keep the highway on lockdown?"

"Yeah."

"You've got to be kidding!" said Jane. "and what kind of bullshit orders are 'wait until the mavericks kill themselves off'? By the time that actually happens there won't be anyone left to save!"

"And that's where we come in." said Xaine. "We're going down there and we're clearing that highway."

"But by the time we land and make it over there, the casualties will have skyrocketed. Plus it sounds like the S.W.A.T team is there to prevent ANYONE from getting in and out."

"Thats why we aren't landing." said Xaine.

"Not landing sir?" Galahad asked, a little confused. "Then how are we getting to the Highway?"

"From above." said Roadbuster. "We're going to airdrop down onto the highway from above."

"Seriously?" Jane asked.

Xaine nodded. "It's our best way of getting in, we'll drop in around the middle, so that we are not spotted by the blockades. Last thing I want is to be mistaken for a Maverick and shot down by trigger happy cops."

"Once we're down we'll have to move fast." said Xaine. "Our priority is to clear out as many of the mavericks on the highway as possible and secure a landing zone for rescue choppers. Musashi you're on recon, I need you to spot maverick groups and point out any strays. We got a crate of gear just for you, including a glider, use it."

Musashi nodded.

"Your Cyber Wolf goes with Medi on the ground to track for survivors. Galahad you're with Medi, keep her safe while she stabilizes the seriously wounded so they can be moved safely."  
"Understood." said Galahad. "Fear not for I will make sure no harm comes to her."

"Shenlong, Roadbuster, Jane, you're with me, we're going to take down as many Mavericks as possible and thin the crowd."

"Leave it to us." said Roadbuster.

"Gear." Xaine said turning to him.

"Huh?" Gear blinked. "Me?"

"Yes, you'll be taking a Ride Armor down to the surface and clearing out debris for an LZ, as well as rescuing any civilians that may be trapped under rubble. As soon as I give the word to the hospital we need to make sure there is a viable LZ for rescue choppers."

"R-Right!" Gear said, straightening up. "I won't let you down!"

"Raem will coordinate from up here." said Xaine. "If there are no questions. Then lets arm up and show them what the 21st can do!"

Everyone nodded, even Gear was fired up.

Crates were being opened and weapons being checked, everyone grabbing what they can use.

Musashi loaded Kunai into a hip holster while checking the grip on a climbing sickle as Gear was making adjustments to the glider, a silver winged shape glider that resembled a bird of some kind, with gold accents on the tips. Gear was adjusting the harness so that Musashi wouldn't fall.

"There that should do it." said Gear. "There are fires all across the highway from accidents and such, so use them to catch an updraft if need be."

Musashi nodded as he sheathed his Cypher on his back. "Your services are most helpful." He strapped on the Glider and moved to the lift.

"Musashi, be careful alright?" Xaine asked. "And be sure to stay clear of the blockades, don't want you getting shot down."

"Have faith in me commander." said Musashi. "I'll be able to keep an eye on the highway, including those blockades. Whatever the police are doing, I'll know."

"Alright." said Xaine. "Breaker Musashi is ready to deploy!"

"Roger that." Breaker said over the com. "Lowering the lift, everyone stay clear."

Sirens came on, as the section of the floor squared off by caution strips lowered, the wind blowing as Musashi looked on ahead.

"By the time you land I'll have the highway scouted out within 2 miles." said Musashi, who took a few steps, jumped off the lift and sailed into the air on the glider, Breaker bringing the lift up afterwards.

"Medi, Gear, Galahad you're up next." said Xaine.

Gear nodded, climbing into one of the Chimera ride armors they had brought along, this was one of the newer compact models and stood about 3 feet high with standard fists on the arms, Galahad was adjusting his equipment, adding an extra beam dagger alongside the beam saber he carried, and making checks on the buckler on his arm. Medi was adjusting a field pack she had slung on her shoulder, filled with medical supplies, bandages, ointment, tools and fresh water, she then sighted down a Buster gun, slinging it into a side holster on her hip before picking up a Buster rifle as well.

Xaine walked over, giving Medi a hug and a kiss. "Be safe out there, and stay close to Galahad alright?"

"I'll be fine." said Medi. "You keep worrying about me and you won't be able to do your job. So stop worrying and let me do mine."

"Don't worry commander, Sir Gear and I will keep her safe." said Galahad. "Between my swordsmanship and the ride armor, both Lady Medi and any survivors we fine will be safe."

"Don't forget Wolf." said Gear. "We'll be relying on him to locate the survivors."

The Cyber wolf perked up, wagging its tail as it headed over to the lift, Gear maneuvering the Ride Armor onto it as Medi and Galahad walked on.

"Musashi, it's Xaine." said Xaine over coms. "You find a spot the rescue team can set down in?"

"Affirmative, sending coordinates to Breaker." said Musashi.

"You get that Breaker?" Xaine asked.

"Yeah, making course adjustment now. I'll lower the lift when we get there."

"Copy that." said Xaine, he looked over to Medi, Galahad, Gear and Wolf. "As soon as you touch down, find as many people as you can, get them treated and ready for evac. Once we confirm survivors Raem will contact the hospital, have them start sending rescue choppers for pick up. Gear be sure a path is cleared."

"Leave it to me." said Gear.

"We're in position!" said Breaker. "Lowering the lift now."

"Good luck down there." said Xaine.

"You too." said Medi, as she, Galahad, Gear and wolf jumped off.

Breaker raised the lift back up, and Xaine turned on his com. "Musashi, find us the thickest concentration of Mavericks on the highway."

"Roger." said Musashi.

Roadbuster opened one of the crates, taking out a heavy Gatling gun and strapping it on his back, before sighting down a shotgun and slinging it into a holster on his back. He placed a hand on his shoulder cannon, doing a quick calibration test, and then grabbing up a beam rifle and slinging it over his shoulder.

"Well aren't you the serious one." said Jane, who was calibrating her own built in buster, sighing down it for a line of fire.

"You have a built in buster?" Shenlong asked looking at Jane.

"Yup." Jane said, changing it back to her hand. "Good for Mid range combat when my rifle would be useless, like in this instance." She'd strap a Green and White Riot shield on her back before picking up a helmet, letting her hair down and putting the helmet on, It was green with a black visor across the center of it, and Shenlong watched as the visor lit up with a single red eye that swept back and forth for a moment.

"Sensors online and active." said Jane. "Good to go."

Xaine holstered a Buster gun and shouldered a Shotgun as the four got on the lift.

"No weapons Shen?" Roadbuster asked.

"I am a disciple of Ansatsuken." Shenlong. "I am a weapon."

"Well that should be fun to watch." said Roadbuster.

"Commander, it's Musashi." Musashi's voice came over the com. "I found a nice spot for you to start, sending coordinates now."

"Good. Keep your eyes peeled up there Musashi.

"Can I please just mention how jealous I am that you guys get to go down and blow shit up while I'm stuck up here?" Breaker said over the com.

"Someone needs to pilot the Rogumer and land it at the airport." said Xaine.

"Yeah and by the time we land and get back to the highway we'll have missed out on all the fun."

"There's plenty of Mavericks in this city Breaker." said Xaine. "You'll get your chance."

"We're over the drop site." said Breaker.

"I'm looking at the highway now." said Raem. "Musashi sure knows how to pick them."  
"Good to hear." said Xaine.

"Lowering the lift." said Breaker. "Have fun down there, bring back souvenirs if you can."

"Raem, let me know when you've found Aria city's home brew hunters." said Xaine.

"Understood." said Raem.

Shenlong look down, the night sky and city lights illuminated the highway, along with the visible fires of wreckage from the chaos down below.

"This is it." said Xaine. "This is what the 21st is all about."

"Man look at that down there." said Jane. "There's gotta be thousands of mavericks crawling all over the highway."

Xaine smirked. "That all?" and he jumped off and went into a freefall.

"Is he always like that?" Shenlong asked.

"Only when he's on assignment." said Roadbuster. "I think he's just eager to finally be back on the field." on that note Roadbuster took a step and jumped off.

Jane was smiling under the helmet. "Oh this is going to be fun!" d with an extatic giggle she leapt off the lift. "WOO!"

Shenlong just sighed and shook his head. "Never a dull moment when you're a wrecker I guess." he said as he jumped off the lift with a flip.


	3. Chapter 3 - Highway Battle

Aria City is a large metropolis located on the west coast. On the surface it is a beautiful and magnificent city, having grown from a mere fishing town. But deep below, it is a corrupt crime ridden city ruled by the Mafia and other criminal organizations. They used their money, intimidation and outright murder to get what they want at the cost of everyone else. Politicians, Cops, there wasn't anyone in the city who wasn't in some crime lords' pocket one way or another, and for years Aria City had been off limits to the Maverick Hunters.

A lot of people wondered if the situation in Aria City could possibly ever get any worse, but somehow, over a week ago, it did when a massive maverick outbreak swept the city, one of the largest to ever happen since the Maverick wars first started back in 21XX.

The Aria City highway was a central hub for the city connecting to major locations, but now it was in ruins as mechaniloids ran rampant across the roadways, damaging the roads in the process. Cars were overturned or buried in rubble. There were bodies strewn across the highway, victims of the rampaging mavericks, others, still alive but badly hurt, trapped under rubble or within their cars, wondering if help would ever come, yet most of them know it never will come.

A large group of mavericks were rioting on the south pass, one of them grinning as it blew up a truck with a grenade launcher.

"Ha ha ha! This city belongs to us now!"

"Yeah you said it! We can practically do whatever we want, and no one can stop us!"

"All the cops are doing is setting up barricades."

"I bet they think they can keep us cooped up on here?"  
"Jokes on them! Once we had our fun it'll be easy to bust through those stupid humans and their barricades!"  
"Yeah, and then we'll have fun in the city."

The Mavericks took another shot at a lamp post with the grenade launcher.

"Besides, we have nothing to worry about. There isn't a single Maverick Hunter in this city!"

Seconds later, the maverick fell dead. his buddies stepping back in shock as they looked up.

"Surprise Mother Fucker!" said Roadbuster as he landed, the weight of his impact creating a shockwave that blew the other mavericks away as he leveled the Mini gun and opened fire, tearing down a few more mavericks.

"What the fuck?!" said a maverick, staring at Roadbuster. "Who the fuck are you?"  
"We're Maverick Hunters." said Roadbuster. "And we're here to clean up this city."

The mavericks went wide eyed at this declaration before one of them got kicked in the face by Shenlong, sending him into the ground. Shenlong turned, blocking a wide haymaker from one of the other mavericks before driving his knee into the maverick's gut several times before throwing him into the air, at which point Jane came into view, an aiming down her buster, blasted the airborne maverick's head off before landing, grabbing her riot shield and raising it to block gunfire from a few more that showed up. The red glowing eye of her helmet swept across the black visor, feeding her information

in real time as she spun around and bashed an approaching Maverick's head in with her shield, before grabbing it and plugging it twice in the chest with her Arm Buster. At the same time Xaine came down, landing with a roll as he brought up the shotgun and blasted a Maverick's head off, drawing his buster gun as he stood and plugging a second with a few holes.

"Mechaniloids incoming!" said Shen, watching a trio of Roaders, mechaniloids built on a single wheel, race down after them.

"Of course it would be a biker gang running roughshod over a highway." said Xaine as they fired on the roaders.

"Heads up." Jane said. "Sensors picking up engine noise!" On cue, from the other end came two heavily armed Ride chasers, the Mavericks riding them wielding Shotguns with axes mounted on the barrels. Jane spun around, blocking a swing from the axe head by one of the mavericks as they rode past her, cackling before spinning around for a second pass.

"I got this!" said Shen, rushing at the bikers and leaping into the air, coming down with a steep diving kick that caught one of the bikers in the face, sending him off the bike which careened off the road with crash. Shen rolled on the ground stood and dodged the axe swings, crouching down low and lunging up suddenly fist straight up like an uppercut.

"SHORYUKEN!" The attack struck hard with a streak of red flames emanating from Shenlong's fist as he flip back and landed, the maverick crashing to the ground with a thud.

"Whoa." said Jane. "How did you do that?"  
"It's one of the techniques of Ansatsuken." said Shenlong.

"Admire the karate later." said Roadbuster. "Still got another maverick."

Shenlong turned, pulling his hands back and gathering energy into them as the second Biker came at him.

"DIE HUNTER SCUM!" he yelled, leveling his shotgun at Shenlong.

"Sorry, not today." said Shenlong as he threw his hands forward. "HADOUKEN!" The energy gathered in his hands was thrown forward like fireball, hitting the Bike and causing it to explode, sending the Maverick flying in the air. Roadbuster, Xaine, and Jane, all at once quickly aimed and fired at the Maverick, nearly disintegrating it with the combination attack.

Jane looked away, the eye in her visor sweeping back and forth. "No one else in this area, we should keep going."

Xaine nodded. "Shenlong, you and Jane head northbound, Roadbuster and I will head southbound. Remember to stay clear of the police barricades. They will more than most likely 'mistake' us for mavericks and open fire."  
"Understood." said Shenlong, as he and Jane headed north, while Roadbuster and Xaine headed south.

"Get away from us!" a woman threw a rock at the approaching maverick, she was cut up and bruised, her long Brown hair was messed up and dirty, she was wearing jeans so her legs weren't badly cut up, but the short sleeve blouse resulted in her arms being badly scraped up, with a particularly nasty gash down her left arm, her children behind her, crying.

"Mommy I wanna go home." the little girl cried, her brother huddling in fear. Both were covered in cuts and scrapes, the boy having a particularly nasty cut on his head.

The mavericks approaching chuckled. "Don't resist, and we'll make your death quick and easy."

The mother responded by picking up a larger stone and chucking it, hitting one of the mavericks right in the face.

"Gah! You little bitch!" the maverick said. "Fucking humans, thinking you own the place huh?" He grabed the woman, yanking her by her hair causing her the scream. "I'll show you who's in charge!"

"MOMMY!" the girl cried out, too scared to move.

"Run! Both of you!" the mother cried.

The maverick drew out a small knife and held it to her throat. "How about I slit your throat and see if you can tell us what to then huh?"

"Unhand her fiend!"

"eh?" The Maverick blinked under his visor and looked up. "Who the hell is that?"

The children looked up, staring in disbelief.

"It's a knight!" said the boy.

Galahad stared down the maverick as he ignited his Beam saber, the blade resembling that of a knight's broad sword, complete with a cross guard on the hilt. "I said let her go."

"Screw you Lancelot!" said the Maverick.

"The name is Galahad." Galahad said. "Though I am honored by the mistaken identity." He leapt into the air, came down and swung his Beam saber, slashing the maverick's hand off that held the knife before bashing him in the face with his buckler and pulling the mother behind him.

The maverick reeled, holding his nose which was now bleeding. "Mother FUCKER! You're going to PAY for that!"

"Stay behind me." Galahad said to the mother as he lowered his visor and assumed stance, he dashed in piercing the maverick through the chest, he pushed the maverick off the blade and quickly decapitated him.

"You mother fucker!" the second maverick lunged in with a stun baton, using wide overhead and haymaker swings with Galahad easily parried and dodged.

"You're swordsmanship needs work." Galahad said. "At this rate you'd make a lousy squire."

"I'll show you who's lousy!" said the maverick, who went for another overhead swing. Galahad blocked it with easy and ran the Maverick through. The Maverick fell dead as Galahad deactivated his beam saber and looked around.

"Medi all clear." Galahad said into his com. "Three more civilians at my location, two of them children."

"On my way." said Medi.

Galahad turned to the three, walking over to them. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Ye...yes." said the mother. "Thank you. Who are you anyway?"  
"Sir Galahad of Avalon." he said with a bow. "Currently attached to the 21st combat Rapid Respond Platoon. I'm a Maverick Hunter."

The woman's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets they went so wide. "Maverick Hunters? Here in Aria City. Please tell me it's not a dream."

"No dream ma'am." said Galahad. "We are here."

"Oh thank god." said the mother. "I didn't think this day would come.

"Sit tight and rest." said Galahad. "I have a medic on route, don't worry, no one will harm you while I am here."

"Are you going to beat up all the bad men out there?" the boy asked.

Galahad smiled, knelt down and met the boy's gaze. "Thats right. They don't stand a chance now that the Wreckers are here."

Medi approached from behind, quickly walking over to the group as Galahad stood.

"Who needs to be treated?" Medi asked.

"I'll be fine." said the mother. "so please tend to my children."  
"Of course." said Medi.

"I'll stand guard." said Galahad.

"Musashi to Galahad."

"Go ahead Musashi." Galahad said, looking up into the air as he tapped his coms on.

"more survivors located, sending coordinates." said Musashi. "Area is in bad shape and could collapse."

"Go." said Medi as she was cleaning the cuts on the girl. "I can keep these three safe."

"My orders were to keep you safe." said Galahad.

"Rescuing humans takes priority. Don't worry Gear is nearby in the ride armor clearing debris for an LZ."  
"Very well." Galahad turned and quickly raced down the highway.

Medi smiled, opening her bag and sifting through it before taking out a roll of bandages. "Okay give me your arm lets go those cuts covered."

The girl nodded.

"Are you really Maverick Hunters?" the mother asked, sitting on the ground.

Medi nodded, finishing bandaging the girl's arm. "that's right."

The mother smiled and looked down. "Thank god, maybe now this city can change."

"I don't know if we can make that happen." said Medi. "But as far as all these mavericks are concern we can at least get that back down to manageable levels."

The mother nodded, watching as Medi treated her son.

"So do you know what happened here exactly?" Medi asked, as she cleaned a large cut on the boy's forehead.

"It, all happened so fast, one minute the highway was quiet and suddenly there's a big explosion, our car got thrown off the road down onto a lower level, it's a miracle we survived." Both the mother and Medi looked up at the upper level of the highway, parts of the supports were damaged and one section had crumbled and fallen apart.

"When we came to everything had gone to hell, Mavericks everywhere. I could hear other people screaming as they were cut down, we tried to hide as best we could, hoping help would arrive." she looked at Medi. "Isn't the police doing anything to help with the rescue effort?"  
Medi shook her head. "Sadly no, all they are doing is manning barricades at exits and turnoffs to keep these Mavericks from leaving the highway. We had to drop in from our airship."

Again the mother turned away, and sighed. "I shouldn't expect any help from the police, why did I even ask."

"Is it that bad?" Medi asked.

"The worst." said the mother. "You'd be lucky to get a police officer to help an old lady cross the street around here, unless there was a profit to be made. Commissioner Graham is in so many pockets and living off of others misfortune its almost comical."

"There has to be a few decent cops." said Medi.

"Only three." said the woman. "And they make up Aria City's 'Maverick Task Force' ."

Medi raised an eyebrow. "3 people is not enough to handle a city full of mavericks, especially on a scale this big."

"Tell me about it." said the woman. "Jack tries his best with what he has."

"Jack?" Medi asked, she looked back to the boy. "hey stay still." she said, applying stitches to the forehead gash.

"Jack Armstrong, my husband, he's the head of the MTF."

"Your husband?" Medi asked. "Why isn't he here?"  
"Good question." Mrs. Armstrong said with a sigh. "take your pick of answers, most of them involving getting sent 'elsewhere' in the city. It wasn't always this bad you know. The MTF once had plenty of members to deal with Aria City's Mavericks."

"What happened?" Medi asked as she checked the stitches on the boy.

"Graham happened." said Mrs. Armstrong. "When he became commissioner he made 'necessary cuts.' to the police budget, but in reality all he did cut MTF funds to the point where they could barely function. All but two people abandoned Jack at that point, valuing their own lives and safety over doing their jobs."

Medi said nothing for a moment. "If you ask me, Graham probably has a few Mavericks on a payroll, and the last thing he needs is them being retired."

"Among other things." said Mrs. Armstrong.

"Okay your kids are patched up, now let's take a look at that arm." said Medi.

Mrs. Armstrong nodded, holding out her left arm.

"Thats pretty deep." said Medi. "Thankfully it looks like it didn't go down to the bone."  
Mrs. Armstrong looked at it. "It must have happened during the fall, I didn't notice it at first, but then again being attacked by mavericks makes you forget injuries."

"So are these mavericks local or no?" Medi asked as she applied disinfectant to the gash.

"I wouldn't know." said Mrs. Armstrong. "There have been so many as of late."

"Thats why we're here actually." said Medi. "A massive outbreak of Mavericks in the city left the Mayor no choice but to actually call us in."

"Cold day in hell huh?" asked Mrs. Armstrong.

"Indeed." said Medi.

A car sped down the street, running a few red lights in the process as it made a right turn, nearly throwing its occupants. Behind the wheel was a lean man in his early 40's in an old style trench coat and fedora with a grip on the wheel. Sitting in the passenger seat was another man in his late 40s, his short cut hair had some grey on the edges and he had a noticeable mustache. He wore a short sleeved button up shirt with suspenders connected to tan slacks, his left arm from the elbow down was replaced by a robotic arm. In the back was a young woman in her mid 30s with short black hair, wearing Jeans, a black shirt and a leather jacket, who was holding on for dear life.

"For god sakes Logan slow down before you get us killed!"

"Slow down? You crazy Krin?" said Logan, the one driving. "We got Mavericks on the highway and we got sent all the way to the edge of the Slums!"

"Damn that Graham." said the older man. "He should have sent us to the highway in the first place!"

"I doubt he would have captain." said Logan. "he'd do anything to screw us over. Man if only we can bust him and remove him from office."

"Yeah but no one can touch him." said Krin. "And even if we did bust him, either the charges won't stick, or he'll be replaced by someone worse."

"So something is happening on that highway Graham doesn't want us to know about." said Logan. "That's my guess anyways."

"Krin, what's the situation at the highway?" asked the older man.

"Well according to a friend of mine in dispatch." said Krin. "SWAT was sent to Blockade off the highway, keep the mavericks from getting out."  
"What about rescue efforts?" asked the older man. "Surely they know there's civilians out there."  
"Nothing that I know of." said Krin. "Just that Swat was sent to 'keep the highway contained.' "

"Which means they're just sitting there picking off anyone that gets close." said Logan.

"In light of the situation." said the older man. "Swat isn't trained to deal with Mavericks like we are. Once we get there we'll take over and begin working on rescue."

With Logan's driving, it took them only another 2 minutes to reach the blockade of main entrance to the highway. Logan pulled to a stop and the three of them got out, Logan and Krin going around to the trunk of the car as the older man approached the blockade. There were at least a dozen or so officers gathered, all wearing heavy riot gear that can reasonably withstand energy weapons and stop conventional projectile weapons dead in their tracks. A pair of armored trucks were set up as a roadblock, their roof mounted guns aimed down the highway. The Older man quickly pulled his badge out as an officer approached.

"Captain Jack Armstrong, Maverick Task Force." he said. "Who is in charge here?"

"I am." said the officer, a tall thin man clean shaven with a look of contempt on his face as he raised his blast shield. "Sergeant Jay Dillinger, head of Aria City SWAT."

"My team and I can take it from here." said Armstrong. "Keep the barricade up and get ready to receive civilians."

"Sorry sir, no can do." said Dillinger.

Armstrong looked at him. "What was that?"  
"Orders from the commissioner." said Dillinger. "No one is to be let in our or out until we get confirmation the Mavericks have dispersed, either from leaving, or they all killed each other."  
"Are you out of your mind?" Armstrong asked. "There are people trapped on the highway."

"Not my problem." said Dillinger.

"It should damn well be your problem!" said Armstrong. "Did you even call in paramedics, have you even tried to go in and look for anyone?"  
"Those aren't my orders." said Dillinger.

"Well they are now." said Armstrong.

"Captain with all due respect, I do not take orders from you, I'm not a part of your little wannabe Maverick Hunter group and neither is anyone else here. And we have strict orders not to let you through especially. Face it Captain you're just not needed anymore. No one likes honest cops." said Dillinger. "Should have taken the hint when the commissioner cut your budget and everyone that was smart left your unit."  
Armstrong's eyes narrowed. "Let us through Sergeant that is an order. We have a job to do." he said. "The commissioner is a fool if he thinks a few SWAT barricades are going to keep a large group of Mavericks capable of putting this highway out of commission contained. The moment they decide to break through you're as good as dead."

"Look around you Captain." said Dillinger. "Every one of these men are capable of handling large scale riots. We have the best weapons and equipment we can afford, unlike all of you."  
"We still have plenty of firepower to get the job done." said Armstrong. Krin and Logan approached, flanking Armstrong and wearing body armor and riot helmets as Logan handed him some body armor which he took and strapped on.

"Go home Armstrong." said Dillinger. "or I'll be forced to arrest you for interfering in a police matter."

"Go ahead and try." said Armstrong. "But one way or another the three of us are getting on that highway and doing our jobs."

"Uh Sergeant." a SWAT walked over, saluting, he looked to be a Coms officer. "I'm picking up activity on the highway, Mavericks are being killed off left and right."

"There you see." Dillinger said smiling. "They finally turned on each other and started killing one another off. Once they're all confirmed dead, then we'll go and rescue civilians."

Armstrong glared.

"Actually." said the officer. "They're being killed off by an unknown group."

"Eh?" Dillinger turned. "What do you mean unknown?"

"Just what I mean." said the officer. "We also picked up some radio chatter and-" he was cut off by the sound of sirens, causing everyone to turn and watch as ambulances pulled up.

"I didn't send for paramedics." said Dillinger watching as two of them got out of the ambulances.

"Don't look at me." said Armstrong. "We just got here."  
"Are you the ones in charge of the blockade?" The paramedic asked.

"Yeah." said Dillinger. "We didn't send for you."

"No sir." said the paramedics. "Our orders came from a group calling themselves the 21st combat rapid response platoon."

"The 21st what?" said Dillinger. "We have nothing like that in the ACPD."

"Of course you don't." said the Paramedic. "They're Maverick Hunters and right now they're on that highway doing your job."  
Dillinger stared in disbelief. "What? Maverick Hunters have no jurisdiction in this city. Leave now that's an order, if we need you we'll call you."

"Sir, the Maverick Hunters are a federal organization." said the paramedic. "They're orders override yours."

"What is it that you need?" Armstrong asked.

"We were told the less serious patients would be escorted to the blockades, we just need you to help ups receive them."

"Understood." said Armstrong, turning to the blockade. "You heard the man! Keep an eye open and let any and all civilians through."

"I told you we don't take orders from you." said Dillinger. "No one gets on or off that highway, commissioners orders. I don't care if there are Mavericks Hunters or not, they have no jurisdiction here and therefore whatever they say has no meaning."

"Commander Xaine, this is Raem."

"Go ahead Raem." Xaine said as he punched a Maverick across the jaw before capping him in the knees.

"Paramedics confirmed arriving at the blockades. Rescue choppers on their way."  
"Copy that" said Xaine. "Gear how are we on cleanup?"  
"Just got another spot cleared off." said Gear as he tossed aside another piece of rubble. "We can accommodate 3 choppers at this rate. Medi has confirmed at least 20 people in critical condition too risky to move to the blockade. They are stable but will need to get to the hospital asap."

"Roger that." said Xaine. "I'll send Road Buster to help with the serious injuries."

"Sir, this is Shenlong, we have a serious problem here." said Shenlong. He was kneeling down by a car that had slammed into a street light, the alarm blaring. The driver and passenger were both two men of average build wearing suits, each with a bullet in the head. In the backseat was a woman, fairly attractive with blonde hair and wearing modest closed, she was breathing but barely, bleeding out from a gunshot wound in her gut. "I just found another survivor. She's alive but barely and bleeding out. Her two friends in the front seat are both dead, single bullet through the head."

"What's wrong with that?" Breaker chimed in over the coms.

"They weren't killed by the mavericks rioting on the highway." said Shenlong. He rifled through the pockets of one of the dead men, pulled out the wallet and opened it. "Oh shit."

"What is it Shen?" Jane asked as she blasted a hole in a maverick.

"Guys, we have a pair of Dead Feds on our hands."

Everyone went silent, and the silence seemed to last forever.

"Wait wait, did you just say FED?" said Breaker over the coms. "As in The Federal Bureau of Investigations?"

"F.B.I.?" said Medi. "Here?"

Xaine cursed under his breath. "That means that woman must be a federal witness."

"Cops aren't letting anyone on or off the highway." Galahad said as if a reminder. "Factor in how SWAT is most likely in some mob bosses pocket..."

"This was an assassination." said Xaine.

"And they used the riot to cover it up." said Jane. "A sniper perhaps." she looked around, noticing buildings off in the distance. "Depending on the skill it could have been done from outside the highway."

"Shen you sure she's still alive."

"Positive." said Shenlong. "I can feel a pulse and she's still breathing."  
"Okay. Medi get there on the double." said Xaine.

"On it." said Medi.

"Galahad begin moving civilians that have been rescued to the closest Blockade." said Xaine. "It's time we wrap this up."

"Understood." said Galahad.

"Musashi. We need you on the ground!"

"Affirmative." said Musashi.

"Commander I've confirmed the location of Aria City's Maverick Hunting group, known as the Maverick Task Force. They are currently at the main blockade due north."  
"You got that Galahad?" Xaine asked. "Head north. Raem open communications with the north blockade I want to speak with their leader. His name is Jack Armstrong."

"Understood." said Raem.

Tensions were rising as Armstrong and Dillinger were staring each other down.

Logan kept his eyes on Dillinger's men, who seem to be getting anxious with the way one of them gripped their rifle.

The tension was broken by the return of the com officer, who looked nervous. "Uh sir."

"What?!" Dillinger asked, clearly agitated by Armstrong's presence at this point.

"We have movement, approaching the north blockade." said the officer.

"Well don't just stand there." said Dillinger. "It's probably just some Mavericks, be ready to open fire."  
"Are you out of your mind?" said Armstrong. "You'd risk hitting civilians."

"Another thing." said the com officer. "There is someone on the coms, says he's the leader of the Maverick Hunters on the highway."

"Ignore him." said Dillinger. "He has no jurisdiction."

"He wants to speak to Captain Armstrong." said the com officer.

That got everyone's attention.

"Bring me a com." said Armstrong.

"Yes sir." said the officer who quickly raced back to the SWAT's mobile base, coming back seconds later with a com. "Here"

Armstrong took the com. "This is Captain Jack Armstrong of the Maverick Task Force, who am I speaking with?"  
"Captain Armstrong? This is Commander Xaine of the Maverick Hunters, 21st combat rapid response platoon."

"How can the ACPD be of help commander?" Armstrong asked.

"We have civilians inbound to your location with one of our own as an escort, roughly 30 or so. More will be on their way to the other blockades depending on the distance." said Armstrong. "We also have about 20 or so that are critically injured but stable that need to be airlifted out."  
"Understood. And what about the Maverick situation?"  
"Under control." said Xaine. "Give us 10 more minutes and we'll have the highway cleared out."

"Give me that!" said Dillinger grabbing the com. "Now listen whoever you are. Maverick Hunters have no jurisdiction in Aria City so whatever game your playing ends now! My men have express orders from the commissioner not to let anyone on or off this highway. So let me tell you something, as soon as we see your so called "civilians." my men are going to lay waste to every single one of you mavericks is that understood?"

"And you are?" Xaine asked, not amused by what he just heard.

"Sergeant Jay Dillinger, head of SWAT." Dillinger said.

"Well, Sergeant." said Xaine. "why don't you get in touch with Mayor Grange? He'll tell you that not only has he called in the Maverick Hunters and requested our help, but he's given us full undisputed jurisdiction in Aria City, which means my orders outrank your sham of a commissioner."

"Yeah well I didn't get notice of that." said Dillinger. "so your argument is invalid."

"Like Graham would even admit he's been overruled on anything." Logan whispered to Krin.

Dillinger turned off the com and looked to the blockade. "Men! We have Mavericks incoming! As soon as you see them open fire!"

"Are you INSANE!?" Armstrong asked grabbing Dillinger. "Did you not hear what Xaine said? There are civilians approaching. You plan to open fire on civilians?"  
"All I heard was a bunch of a bullshit to let our guard down." said Dillinger. "Until I hear differently from the commissioner my orders stand!"

With that Armstrong drew his sidearm and aimed it at Dillinger, on cue Krin and Logan drew their weapons and aimed as SWAT turned and aimed at Armstrong.

"THE FIRST PERSON TO FIRE A SHOT AT THE INCOMMING CROWD IS GETTING ARRESTED FOR MURDER IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?" Armstrong asked.

Silence at first, but everyone nodded and lowered their weapons.

"Sir I have a visual." said one of the SWAT at the blockade.

"What are you waiting for? Shoot those are the Mavericks!" said Dillinger.

"No they aren't." said the officer. "They're humans, being escorted by...a knight?"

"Ahoy there!" Said Galahad waving. "We have injured that need treatment, our medic did the best she could so they can get here under their own power."

At that point the paramedics quickly rushed out to tend to the people. Dillinger just stood there dumbfounded.

"Still think it's a hoax?" Armstrong asked. He blinked seeing someone approach with the Knight. "Jessica?"

"Jack?" Jessica Armstrong stared wide eyed, before tears welled up in her eyes and she ran over to him, embracing her husband. "Jack oh thank god you're here!"

"DADDY!" The boy and girl ran over, hugging Armstrong he knelt down to embrace them.

"Duncan, Amy." he said. "What are you doing here?"  
"We were using the highway to get home." said Jessica. "and got caught in this riot." she looked over at Galahad and smiled. "This hunter saved us from some mavericks."

Galahad bowed. "Merely doing my duty sir Armstrong, as both a Knight and a Maverick Hunter." he tapped his com, contacting Xaine. "Commander, this is Galahad, the first group is safely at the blockade, Paramedics are tending to them now."

"Good." said Xaine. "Arrest Dillinger."

"Gladly." said Galahad as he turned off his comlink. "Excuse me, but which one of you is Sergeant Jay Dillinger?"

"I am." Dillinger said, walking over, clearly unhappy. "What do you want?"

"Jay Dillinger, for endangering the lives of human with your inaction, and attempting to interfere in a Maverick Hunter operation, you are under arrest and hereby declared Maverick."

Everyone went silent, trying to wrap their heads around what they just heard.

"Wha...WHAT?!" Dillinger stared, slacked jaw. "You can't do that! I'm human! you can't declare a human Maverick!"

"This is a special case." said Galahad. "Due to the nature of this city and it's...wonderful reputation, we have been given full authority to declare anyone Maverick who interferes in our mission to clear out the actual mavericks in this city, have them arrested and locked up."

Dillinger was sweating now. "I...you have no jurisdiction! I have heard nothing from the commissioner about this, so these accusations are invalid and..."

"Captain Armstrong, cuff him." said Galahad.

"Yes sir." said Armstrong, pulling out cuffs and grabbing Dillinger's arm.

"Let go of me!" said Dillinger. "This is a farce."

"You're the one who said he was going to open fire on civilians saying they were mavericks." said Armstrong. "Thats attempted murder right there."

"Your word against mine!" said Dillinger. "Who do you think the commissioner is going to listen to huh? This trumped up charge will be dropped and you'll be out of a job."

"We do have your conversation with Commander Xaine recorded just so you know." said Galahad. "And being declared maverick isn't something you can just make go away." Galahad turned to the other SWAT members, his visor raising up. "Listen to me. You made a sworn oath to protect and serve the people of Aria City! And yet you willingly disregard that oath just to line your own pockets and live comfortably? Your city is facing a crisis unlike any other! Mavericks by the thousands have come here, attracted no doubt by the decadence and decay of this city. You didn't see them, but I did! They believe without any doubt that they can have their way with this city and no one can touch them. And as I look around, I am inclined to agree!" he pointed to Armstrong Krin and Logan as they were putting Dillinger in the back of their squad car. "These three are brave enough to stand up against these Mavericks and show them that Aria City belongs to them. And yet what do you all do? You make up excuses and hide behind this barricade, too afraid of defying the corruption and criminals that control this city because it's safer than doing the right thing! Look around you! Look at all these people that we, the 21st Combat Rapid Response Platoon have rescued and more are on their way! Will you continue to sit here and do nothing while more people suffer?" Galahad looked to an officer who fidgeted. "You good sir! What if someone you knew was trapped on that highway, just as Sir Armstrong's fair wife was trapped? Or you? Or you? What if there were people trapped on that highway that you knew? We're still uncovering more and more people trapped in cars and buried under rubble. Some can't even be moved and have to wait for the rescue transports to arrive, those who can move still run the risk of being attacked by Mavericks on their way to the exits, or even worse, attacked by your fellow officers who choose to follow orders that do nothing but harm them. And by following these orders, you are no better than your Sergeant and your Commissioner, and you might as well be considered Mavericks yourselves!" He looked around. "I'm going back on that highway to help my team clear out the rest of the Mavericks and get the civilians to safety! Some of you can join me and help while others stay behind to man the barricade and protect the people that are already here. Or you can all cower behind your orders and do nothing, and be arrested along with your Sergeant when we're done."

"You don't have to tell me twice." said Armstrong walking over to Galahad. "This is my job after all."  
"Same here." said Logan. "Three of us came here to scrap some Mavericks, and I'll be damned if I miss out and let you hunters take all the fun."

"You can count on us, that's a promise." said Krin with a nod.

"Tis good to see such men and women of valor." said Galahad. "truly tis a sign that this city hasn't lost all hope."

"I'm coming too!" said one officer.

"Same!" said another.

"I'll stay behind and protect the paramedics." a third ran out. More and more of the SWAT officers stepped forward, for the first time it seems like there was resolve in their eyes.

"Good." said Galahad. "Send word to the other Blockades, let them know that Sergeant Dillinger is no longer in charge, and that they will be taking orders from us."

"The 21st combat...uh..." Logan blinked, forgetting the full name.

"Just call us the Wreckers." said Galahad. "It's what we do."  
"What are we doing just standing here then?" asked Armstrong. "We have a highway to take back!"


End file.
